


How are we getting home?

by Zimmercj



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Dex is very irish in this, Dex's family loves evryone, Every Irish person is one big family, Fluff, Gaelic Storm, Irish music, M/M, OFC - Freeform, Reconciliation, dex's mom is savage, i make several dumb jokes in this, no judgement from anyone in this fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2020-03-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:26:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23103196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zimmercj/pseuds/Zimmercj
Summary: This was a stupid idea that popped into my head as I was setting up my playlist for St. Patrick's day. Nursey would totally be one of those hipsters who would unironically listen to Gaelic Rock all year round. I made dex really Irish in this one. Is this fic idea stupid? Hell yeah :), but that's what makes it fun-like listening to celtic rock.
Relationships: Derek "Nursey" Nurse/William "Dex" Poindexter
Comments: 2
Kudos: 68





	1. Chapter 1

Dex sighed as he slid the pie out of the oven, ever since Bitty graduated he had become the baker in residence for the haus. He didn't really mind per se, but he wished the hockey hoards would slow down and savour the flavours a little more. But, when you and all of your friends need 6,000 plus calories mid season he guesses he should be thankful for what civility they did show. He looked around the kitchen to see if he could see anyone else in the haus, but he saw no one meaning that everyone was either in class or enjoying the early March weather where it was too hot to be winter, yet too cold to be spring. Dex didn't know exactly what to call it other than peaceful. _Nursey would probably know some fancy word for this_. Dex thought. Dex was surprised he hadn't heard anything from Nursey since they got home together at noon. Amazingly their senior year both of them were able to have every afternoon free on Fridays. He supposed he could take a piece of pie to Nursey. They had been getting along better after Bitty set them down at the end of last year and told the that they would need to be the backbone of the team and look after everyone and each other. 

"But what about Chowder?" Nursey had asked. He was the captain after all, with Nursey and Dex getting the A's.

"Sweety, we all know that he will have enough on his plate trying to lead the team to a second NCAA championship. Besides, we all know that as soon as one of the freshies said 'please', he would be powerless. For someone who can do the puppy dog eyes so well he sure isn't immune to it being used on him." Bitty said smiling. 

"We'll try Bitty," Dex said looking serious, after all, disappointing Bitty would be like disappointing your grandmother. And Dex would never hurt his Nanny or his Gran, and he guessed somewhere along the line he had added 'his Bitty' to that list. 

" I know you both will, but try hard ok?" Bitty said as he pulled them both into a hug. Nursey and Dex locked eyes over his head and nodded. And for the most part they had been getting better at existing together, after a truce formed over the summer where they pretty much split their time between Maine and New York. Dex had saved up enough money by working jobs in the university during the off seasons (you would be surprised how many frat and team houses need repairs almost every other day) that he didn't have to work on his uncle's boat this summer (which he still did because he missed the sway of the ocean beneath his feet. When he told Nursey this he had asked Dex if he was sure he wasn't part mermaid. To which Dex responded "I'm Irish Nurse, I would be part selkie", as he smacked the other boy over the head with his pillow.) For once in his life he was able to just enjoy being a 21 year old kid. His mom just gave him a sly wink and laughed as she hugged him goodbye on his way to New York at the beginning of summer. He loved his mother, but she could be a pain in the ass when she wanted to be, and she relished in it. 

But in all honesty, things had been going much better between them since then. Dex had even moved back into their shared room. Although he did keep the basement bungalow. That was one of their compromises-if things ever got too heated between them either one could call a pause and they would split up to be alone and let themselves cool of until they could be more rational about whatever they were fighting about. That worked about 95% of the time. The other 5% of the time they still wanted to kill each other, but their newfound closeness meant that _actual_ homicide attempts were few and far between. Dex got two plates down from the cupboard and set them on the counter while he turned around to get a knife and forks from the drawer. After he got the two pieces plated he took out his phone and sent a picture to his mom.

_Dex: [IMAGE] I made your "Irish Pie" today._

_Mama: Looks great!_

_Mama: Who is the second piece for? 🤔_

_Dex: Nursey, I figured I would be nice today._

_Mama: I'm sure you're 'nice' to him everyday. 💋_

_Dex: Good bye mother. 🤦🏼‍♂️_

_Mama: Bye Dexydoodle. 💋 Be sure to wear your full pads when you play._

_Dex: **Good bye** mother._

Dex groaned as he tucked his phone back into his pocket. He was seriously regretting talking to his mother about potential crushes. That was an awkward conversation: "Somedays I just want to punch him, other days I want to punch him...on the lips...with my lips." He shook that thought out of his head as he climbed the steps to his room. It was quiet when he got up the stairs, so he opened the door quietly incase Nursey was in the middle of an afternoon nap. "Nurse..." Dex said as he walked through the door. Nursey was on Dex's bed (which was cool as long as he kept his shoes off) listening to something on his phone with earbuds in. Nursey's parents forbade him from getting airpods-he had enough trouble keeping the ones tied to his phone from getting lost. He sat up when he saw Dex come in with pie, and he threw his phone aside forgetting to take the headphones out. He rubbed his ear with his free hand as he took the plate from Dex. 

"This smells amazing Dex what is it?" Nursey asked as he seemed to forget about his ears. 

"It's one of my mom's favourite recipes. She calls it "Irish Pie" because it's made with peaches that are the same colour as our hair and..." he didn't get a chance to finish his explanation as Nurse took a huge bite of the pie. 

"Holy shit!" Nursey yelled as he swallowed the pie "What the hell was that?"

"Irish Pie," Dex replied with a smirk. "it's made with peaches that are the same colour as our hair and a half bottle of Irish Whisky. It packs as much of a punch as we do."

"I'll say." Nursey manages after he takes a few breaths. "Any particular reason for this particular treat?" 

Dex just shrugs, "It's getting close to St. Patrick's day and I wanted something that reminds me of home. We would have the biggest parties at home with all the cousins coming around and we would have the most food you've ever seen, and after the sun went down we would have a big bonfire with a lot of singing and dancing."

"And how many of those cousins are you actually related to?" Nursey asked as Dex just shrugged with indifference. "It sounds like fun, too bad you haven't been able to make it these past years." Nursey said as he went back to his pie-taking smaller bites this time. 

"Yeah, I miss getting together as much with my family, but they understand" Dex said as he bent down to push Nursey's phone out of the way so he could sit down without breaking it. Unfortunately Nursey's headphone cord got stuck on the edge of the mattress and pulled themselves out of the jack. "Oops, Sorry Nurse." Dex said as he grabbed the headphones to hand to Nursey. At the same time Nursey's phone started to play the last song that was on it.  
  
 _Just a small request from this human to a god._  
 _Let me ask you a favor that might seem a little odd,_  
 _I'm at a loss_  
 _I need to cross the ocean wide and I need to do it soon._

Nursey made a mad dash to his phone to turn it off before it could play anymore. "Don't say a word." Nursey said as he gave Dex his 'Bitty isn't here right now and I will murder you' look.

"I never would have pinned you as a Celtic Rock fan Nurse" Dex said holding his palms up in appeasement. 

"What I listen to is none of your business if you're going to be a dick." Nurse said, though it seemed that he was less murdery now, only offended.

"But come on Nurse," Dex said with a laugh. "Gaelic Storm is like the basic white girl version of Celtic Rock."

"You must have rubbed off on me then" Nusey quipped back, anger seemingly deflated. 

"Ass" Dex muttered as he put Nursey into a headlock and ruffled up his hair. After a few seconds, Dex released Nursey and stood up taking the empty plates with him as he went back downstairs. He pulled out his phone and texted his mom before he forgot.

_Dex: Mama, is cousin Patrick going to be at the St. Patrick's party?_


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One week later (March 16-18)  
> Everyone thinks NurseyDex are screwing :)

One week later Dex walked into their room and threw a backpack at Nursey. "What the hell dude?" Nursey says as he looks at Dex. "I was painting my nails here." Dex looks closer at Nursey and saw the little vial of shamrock green polish on the table. 

"You'll fit right in this weekend with that," Dex said "Pack enough for tomorrow and Sunday, we're leaving in a half hour."

"The fuck are you talking about Dexy?" Nursey asked even as he stood up and started to pull stuff from his dresser, one handed with what Dex suspected was the dry hand.

"You were right-shut up," Dex said as he saw Nursey make a sarcastically shocked expression. "I do miss going to my family's St. Patrick's day parties, so since we don't have a game or practice this weekend I thought I would drive up and spend the weekend. And for some reason my mom insisted that you come along too. Now finish packing, I want to get there before supper time."

"Chill," was all Nursey said as he went back to packing. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Half an hour later they were heading towards the interstate and small town Maine. "Hey Nurse, put on my "special road trip playlist" would you?" Nursey just shrugged as he reached over towards the console and unlocked Dex's phone and pulled up the requested playlist. 

"Really?" Nursey asked as he saw that the entire playlist was Celtic Rock.

"What can I say? Sometimes you have good tastes." Dex replied never taking his eyes off the road.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About 4 hours later they pull into the driveway of Dex's family home.

"My boys!" Dex's mom cried as she bounded down the stairs and threw her arms around us. She might be only a little taller than Bitty, but she felt stronger than Holster.

"Hi mom," Dex said as he broke out of the embrace, only to slip his arm around her shoulders.

"Nice to see you again Sinéad. We would have been here sooner if someone didn't need to stop and pee every half hour." Nursey quipped, sticking his tongue out at Dex over his mom's head.

"I know that all too well Derek, the only thing smaller than his temper is his bladder." Sinéad said which caused Nursey to double over with laughter. 

"Mom!" Dex said indignantly as he gave Nursey a gentle push. Which, because he was Nursey meant he fell over onto the ground.

"Hush baby, take your stuff up to your room and the two of you freshen up a little, it will just be the three of us for dinner tonight. Your father and siblings are up at the main place getting everything perfect for tomorrow."

"I thought the party was here?" Nursey asked as he stood up and wiped off his jeans.

"I mean, technically it is," Dex said, "My parents' house is down here, but my grandparents' house is up the road a little bit. Our properties and my uncle's all abut each other and the party takes place where all three meet. Our land is wider than it is long so we let most people park here and walk to the field since it's shorter."

"Makes sense," Nursey shrugged.

"Go, get going!" Sinéad said shooing them into the house and up the stairs to Dex's room. "Lasagne will be ready in about 15 minutes!" She called up the stairs to the boys. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few hours later the three of them were sitting in front of the tv talking, not really paying attention to the documentary on the screen, as Dex's father and his four? Five? siblings came in-they were moving to fast for Nursey to make sure he doesn't double count anyone. "Nice to see you again Derek," Dex's dad Robert said. "Hopefully Will braced you for the oncoming celtic hoards tomorrow." he said with a laugh.

"Hush you!" Sinéad said as she threw a piece of popcorn at him. "You married into the hoard, let me remind you that you are one of us now." Sinéad said with a steely look to her face. She kept it up for about five seconds before she cracked and started laughing, causing everyone else in the room to laugh as well. 

"Alright everyone, time for bed," Robert said as he kissed Sinéad on the top of her head. "We've gotta get up early tomorrow to get the food started." Dex's siblings all went up to bed after kissing their mom good night, and waving to Dex and Nursey. 

"I guess that means us to Nurse," Dex said as he got up and cracked his back. 

"Yeah, sure." Nursey replied, the impromptu road trip having taking more out of him than he thought,

"Night," Dex said to his dad after he kissed his mom good night.

"Behave you two, we have a lot of work to do tomorrow and you need your rest," Robert called up the steps with a smirk audible in his voice. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Holy shit," Nursey whispered under his breath. "Your dad wasn't kidding, this really is the celtic hoard."

"Don't let them hear you say that," Dex said with a smile.

"Oh, Sorry. I can see how that could be offensive."

"No," Dex said with a laugh, "they would probably love it. Make it into their band name." Dex said with a laugh. "Come on, we should grab some food before we only have my aunt's green bean casserole left. I love her, put I wouldn't even fill a pothole with that stuff."

"How could we run out of food?" Nursey asked indicating to the half dozen tables before them that were overflowing with food.

"Trust me, my family can out eat Rans and Holster several times over. We burn a lot of calories dancing and singing all night. Some people use it as an excuse to front load on the calories." He and Nursey started to pile their plates with a little bit of everything. "I'd tell you what everything is, but we'd be here for hours," Dex joked, "I can guarantee you that nothing will kill you."

"That sounds really reassuring" Nursey said bumping his shoulder into Dex's.

"Come on, let's find a place to sit down and listen to the music before too many people get here." An hour and a half later Dex starts poking at his phone and checking the time. "Come on Nursey, get up. We've got to say goodbye to my mom before we head into town."

"We're not staying?" Nursey asked as he got up and brushed his knees off. 

"We'll be back," Dex said, "people come and go all the time. Hardly anyone stays for the full time."

"I see, what are we doing in town?" Nursey asked. He waved to Sinéad as she got close to them. 

"That's a surprise Mo Ghrá," She said as she hugged them both. "Have fun!" She said as she turned to head back to join the crowd. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twenty minutes later Dex pulled up to a stop at an Irish Pub that looked almost as old as the haus. "You really brought me from the celtic hoards to an Irish bar? Nursey asked as he shut his door. 

"My mom told you, it's a surprise." Dex said as he opened the door and motioned for Nursey to go in. The place was fairly packed, but the two of them found a pair of open bar stools at the bar and sat down. 

"Hi Pointdexter," the barman said, "What can I get you?"

"He Rex," Dex said pleasantly. "I'll have a Tullamore DEW on the rocks, and give Nursey a Guinness."

"So this is the mysterious Nursey." Rex said with a smile as he got their drinks ready. 

"What have you been telling people about me Dexy?" Nursey asked, unable to hide his glee. 

"Dexy?" Rex asked with a mischievous grin on his face. 

"Shh," Dex said to both Rex and Nursey. "Your surprise is starting."

"Huh?" Nursey asked as a band walked onto the stage. It took Nursey a second to realize who they were, but when they started playing he couldn't believe his ears.

_She's working as a waitress in Dublin,_

_Filling up the tourists with beer,  
_

_Stashing away a little cash every day..._

"You give me crap for listening to Gaelic Storm, but you take me to one of their shows?" 

"It seemed like a happy coincidence," Dex said with a shit eating grin. 

Nursey started to say something, but the singer started speaking, "Thanks for the warm welcome! It feels good to be back in Maine seeing my family this St. Patrick's Day!" The crowd started clapping and whistling. "And speaking of family, this next song goes out to my little cousin Will and his 'friend' Derek." The singer shot a salute at Dex, who raised his glass of whisky to him and took a sip as the band started to play again. 

_Kiss me, I'm Irish_

_I am the wild rover_

_My eyes they are smiling_

_And I'm seldom sober_

_I like my whiskey_

_And I love to dance_

_So if you're feeling as lucky as me, take a chance_

_And kiss me I'm Irish_

Nursey looked at Dex with incredulous eyes. "What did he mean 'little cousin'?" Nursey asked once he regained the ability to speak. 

"Didn't I tell you? My mom's maiden name is Murphy. She's first cousins with the lead singer." Dex said like it was the simplest thing in the world, which Nursey supposed it could have been.

Nursey leaned forward and kissed Dex on the cheek. "Thank you," was all he said as he leaned back to enjoy the rest of the show, sitting closer to Dex than was probably necessary, but neither of them moved.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night when Nursey and Dex were upstairs in Dex's room, curled up together in Dex's bed. Dex was playing with Nursey's hair, they were both calm and sleepy when Dex started to sing softly "Black is the color of my true love's hair,"...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know Nursey's hair isn't black, but that's the way the song goes.

**Author's Note:**

> Never heard Gaelic Storm before? Listen to one of their albums here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNQq3g3ZrYE&list=OLAK5uy_lmbLDaVLWSsmKUV_IcmYcZqzVAYm64WpY&index=10
> 
> Speaking as someone who is 25, you are still a kid at 21-I'm still a kid at my age ;) .


End file.
